Just a little too late
by Peachy Hikaru
Summary: In which Soujiroh realizes that he needs Yuuki, only when she's about to leave for good. Picks up right after the movie ends. drabble-ish.


A passer-by would have stood and stared at the bizarre situation unfolding on the pavement along the biggest bookstore in Tokyo.

A tea-ceremony enthusiast would have gaped in shock at the sight of the renowned Nishikado Soujiroh, who was something of a legend, sprinting away from the bookstore where he was supposed to be doing a meet and greet, chased by a pretty young lady in her early twenties, who was screaming his name.

For said girl, Matsuoka Yuuki, this situation was tragically normal.

What wasn't normal, however, was the thoughts that were running through her mind as she raced after him. Maybe it was the changed situation, or the fact that she'd had such incredible news and wanted him to be the first one she was sharing it with.

Well, two pieces of news, if one wanted to be specific. One, that she was graduating summa cum laude for business and marketing from her university, and two, that an exclusive firm based in London had already called her with a job offer, apparently impressed with the glowing recommendation she'd received from an affiliated firm here in Japan she'd done an internship with.

She had literally just gotten off the phone with the head of HR at the firm when she rushed over, wanting to tell Soujiroh her news, and also to ask for his advice. She didn't know what she had expected, but somehow, this wasn't it.

Somehow, this silly game of chase was no longer okay with her. Maybe it was because her life had now opened up and crystallized in front of her eyes, and chasing after a man who would never love her back was not something she wanted. Maybe it was just that after six years, she was just tired of the emotional wringer he was putting her through. Whatever it was, she stopped running, breathing heavily, but standing ramrod straight, watching as his figure grew smaller and smaller in the distance.

Then she turned, and walked away. Maybe this was the answer she had been looking for from Nishikado-san.

Because when the gentleman on the phone had mentioned moving to London, her first thought had been, _how can I possibly leave Nishikado-san?_ And she had hoped, however foolishly, that when she told him her news, he would have the same horrified reaction. But he hadn't even been interested to hear what she had to tell him, and that, more than anything else, spoke volumes to her.

It was time to grow up and face reality. She was no longer the naïve seventeen-year-old with stars in her eyes, who could afford to chase an unattainable dream. She was twenty-three now, and even if she could never dare to call herself Nishikado Soujiroh's equal, she knew enough to know that it was time to move on, to stop making decisions based on a foolish pipe dream she'd held on to stubbornly for years.

In her own way, maybe she'd been as stubbornly tenacious as Tsukushi had always been. It was just too bad that she'd wasted all that time and energy on something pointless and fruitless, that despite all her fighting, she hadn't gotten her happy ending like Tsukushi had.

It seemed almost like the end of an era, as she walked away from the chase, from Nishikado-san, from the embarrassments that she had suffered at his hands without complaining for six years. A bittersweet ending, because while she felt lighter than she had in a long time, there were pangs of regret that she hadn't gotten her happy ending here.

She stood at the corner of the sidewalk where Soujiroh had first found her crying, and taken her to his home. She leaned against a lamppost, just staring blankly as thoughts raced through her head. How fitting, she mused, that the place where it all began was just down the road from where it had just ended – one full circle. Somehow, this place had always been a Mecca for her ever since that fateful night – she came here to remember, to reminisce, and to find strength. Now, though, she stood here as she bid farewell to what she had known for so many years, to the dream she had wanted to come true so very badly.

Then she turned away, and just wandered around the streets of Tokyo for a long time, absently noting the places where something between Soujiroh and herself had happened – the cinema, the bar, which was now closed since it was the middle of the day, and so many little cafes.

She could remember the moments they'd shared in every one of them, moments that had made her so happy and hopeful, and moments that had made her feel like giving up altogether. The fact that she'd persevered on had always been a point of personal pride for her, because she'd always believed that if she tried hard enough, and just believed wholeheartedly in Nishikado-san, that one day he would reciprocate her feelings. She felt a little silly now, looking back, for not noticing his blatant disinterest in her romantically, seeing her only as an annoying little sister of sorts, if even that.

Then she looked up at the sky and grinned, shaking off the last of her melancholy. Live and learn, she mused. It was time for the adventure of a lifetime, and boy was she ready. It was time to see the world, to travel to Europe – Europe! For a girl like her, who'd never even left Japan before, this had never been something that was even on her radar, nothing she'd even dared to dream of before.

So maybe she hadn't gotten Nishikado-san, but so what? She hadn't been able to make that dream come true, but she had a new dream now, one that had previously seemed equally unattainable, a complete fantasy.

She flipped open her phone to call Tsukushi. They were going to squeal about this for a few hours, then Tsukushi would round up the whole gang and they were going to celebrate.

And tomorrow… she would call the HR department to accept the job, and her new life could finally begin. As she thought about it, she realized that she couldn't wait. It was time to leave the follies of her adolescence behind her, in Japan, where they belonged, and start afresh in another country. Reinvigorated and renewed, she walked purposefully back to her family home to break the news to her parents.

* * *

Nishikado Soujiroh was a smart man, a rational, sensible man – most of the time. He made good business decisions, had chasing women down to a science – or elevated to an art, however you preferred to call it – was articulate, sophisticated, and mature.

Unless it came to one Matsuoka Yuuki. Then, somehow, he regressed into a childish adolescent, playing this silly game of catch with her. He smiled fondly as he recalled their antics – well, not their antics, per se, more like his shenanigans, accompanied by her trademark adorably confused expression.

He looked behind him and saw she was gone, and stopped running. He wondered what an appropriate feeling was at this point in time, because he honestly didn't know what the feeling in him was. Maybe disappointment, that she hadn't followed, and amusement, although directed at her or himself he wasn't very sure. Not that it mattered, though, since she would be back soon enough.

He frowned slightly as he contemplated the direction his life was taking, in an introspective moment rare to him. This ridiculous game of chase had been going on for too long, and was no longer fun. It was a sort of habit by now, something he did by rote, but as hard as it was to admit, even to himself, he found himself increasingly wanting to settle down, to move on with his life. And somehow, he just couldn't imagine anyone else as perfect for him as Yuuki.

He didn't want to be like his father, the man who'd married for the benefit of the family business, and then spent all his free time and spare money on alcohol and women, and yet that was the direction his own life was taking.

He tried to imagine how life would be like if Yuuki wasn't in it, and as hard as it was to admit, even to himself, he'd grown a lot more reliant on her sweet, smiling face, shining unconditional love and care at him, to the extent that he'd even begun to take it for granted. How many times had she helped him out? Whether it was just listening to him whine when he'd had a bad day and didn't feel like putting up with the ribbing from the rest of the F4, or pretending to be his girlfriend to chase away a persistent suitor, or even what she'd done with Sara, helping him find what he'd lost.

He stuffed his hands in his pockets, frowning as he walked back to the bookstore to finish the signing – if all his fans hadn't left, anyway. Maybe it was time to break himself out of the rut he'd been in, the rut that had been worn in by his father. And if he wasn't careful, he'd find himself unable to climb out.

But how? Was it time for something he'd never even considered a feasible and appropriate thought for him to have before – commitment and marriage? He stared up at the cloudless blue sky for a moment, just imagining what it would be like, coming home to Yuuki every night after work, instead of hanging out at the bars like he did now. He imagined himself in Tsukasa's shoes, putting himself into his cute little domestic situation. Right at this moment, he and Tsukishi were back on their island, renewing their vows or whatever.

He imagined Yuuki, pregnant with his children, greeting him every night after a long, hard day at work with a bowl of tea, her sweet smile shining at him, soothing his soul. He imagined small children, perfect combinations of him and Yuuki, running up to him in excitement as he'd never done with his father, lazy Sundays snuggling together in bed as a family, and going on family outings to the zoo and the park, and wherever children liked to go. And he smiled.

Somehow, the thought didn't fill him with the sort of repulsion that he'd always imagined would come as a knee-jerk reaction after seeing the reality of his own family's situation. And maybe it was because of Yuuki, because she was special, and essential to his life. Maybe, just maybe, it was time for a change.

With renewed vigour, he strode on. He knew what he had to do.

* * *

Yay I finally finished it! I hope you all like where I ended it; I had initially been thinking about doing a confrontation scene between the two (at the celebration party or something) but I thought this would be better, leaving it at the point where Soujiroh has the realization that Yuuki is pretty much his other half, but too late.

I've been working on this on and off for a few months now, and I've been toying with the idea of making it a full story (in which case this would be the prologue). It'll remain as a drabble for now, but with a lot of my other one-shots, if you want to see more, please let me know and I'll see what I can do! (eventually, jc life is so busy I can't even describe. At the moment I have to cram for my CTs so can you spell screwed lmao).

See you all soon!

Love,

Peachy Hikaru


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